


Pursuit of Greatness

by WrittenWithLipstick



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dark, Dark, Gen, May contain traces of torture...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-15
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-07-15 05:57:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7210730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrittenWithLipstick/pseuds/WrittenWithLipstick
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I want to explore what could've happened in between Max and Jefferson. I feel there's an untold story Between the two. *This is an AU* **This is my first Fanfic ever, reviews, feedback and ideas I might be able to steal for my next chapters would be loved!** If Carlsberg ever did a FF summary, this wouldn't be it!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What a marvellous day.

 

“Rise and shine, Maxine; this isn’t the time to be lying around”, Chloe whispered softly in Max’s ear.

“Just another minute, Chloe. And it’s Max—never Maxine,” Max groaned back while hugging the blue haired girl tightly.

A soft giggle emitted from Chloe as she attacked Max, tickling her and…

_Max, stop laughing!_

Chloe kept on tickling Max and rendered her defenceless, stealing a kiss whenever the opportunity arose. What a splendid way to be woken by the person you love, reflected Max, even as she still wished for those extra minutes of sleep.

 _However, I can’t let Chloe get everything the way she wants it, so I’d better fight back_ , she eventually decided with a smug grin.

Her sudden surge of resistance surprised the larger girl, dislodging her from her seat astride Max’s waist. Gaining the advantage, Max then started to tickle and fight back her assailant.

 _Calm DOWN, Stop fighting M…_ the words died out from Chloe’s laughter.

Chloe being physically stronger, easily recovered and reasserted her control. Her right hand pinned Max’s arms together above her head, while her left hand traced the outline of her face. With fingertips softly lingering at Max’s chin, Chloe absorbed every detail of her freckled features. Feeling the struggle subside in the girl below her, she relaxed her right hand grip enough to ensure Max’s comfort in her position. Chloe’s left hand now left Max’s face and began to probe lower. She caressed Max’s body with the delicate touch of affection, taking in all that made her so beautiful.

 _Nothing in the world would stop us now_ , Chloe thought. She leaned forward and softly kissed Max on the forehead. As her left hand slipped under Max’s pink Jane Doe T-shirt, Chloe stared into the eyes of Max, losing herself in those blue eyes.

Max lay staring into Chloe’s blue eyes, feeling the affectionate touch against her skin, her left hand exploring every nook and corner of her body. Even though Chloe does this all the time during foreplay, she keeps acting pleasantly surprised over how soft Max’s skin is. Chloe’s right hand still holds Max’s arms together above her head; at any time, Max could break free, but she doesn’t want to. Max gazed deeply into Chloe’s clear blue eyes, full of life and affection, feeling Chloe’s left hand now working towards her waist. The blue-haired girl leaned forward to kiss Max on her forehead. Max’s disappointed frown only results in Chloe cracking a wide smile. _Teasing me as usual_ , Max thought whilst releasing an audible sigh.

The left hand now reached the lining of her panties and paused, just teasing about entering. One finger slipped under the lining and then another, only to slowly retreat. Her smile still wide and beautiful, her eyes full of life and love, Chloe slowly closed the distance between them for a kiss on the mouth, soft lips touching soft lips. With eye contact never broken, Chloe sensed her cue, and at last pushed her hand inside the well of Max panties.

Rain pelted down from the dark night sky as Max walked through the entrance to the junkyard. Her body seemed to move all on its own, chasing someone or something in front of her. Sad sobs and cries drew Max forward: a voice all too familiar to Max, yet whose source she couldn’t quite place. If only it were more than heart-breaking cries in the dark.

The hand still probing downwards froze as confusion and worry now replaced passion and love in the eyes of Chloe’s beloved. Her hand returned to Max’s face, wiping away slowly emerging tears.

Concern at sudden outburst also flashed through Max’s mind. Why was she back at the junkyard, she wondered? But curiosity soon gave way to frustration that Chloe had stopped her progress yet again.

“Don’t mind the tears,” whispered Max, more to herself than to Chloe. “I’ve just gotten dust in my eyes,” she lamely reassured, as much trying to convince herself as her waiting partner.  
Max cringed within herself, knowing Chloe didn’t believe her excuse at all. At the same time, she was pleased to know Chloe respected and loved her enough to know when she should not press the issue. Had it been something serious, Chloe knew Max would have entrusted her with whatever was amiss.

“Chloe, just get to the point please”, Max pleaded desperately with a growing fire inside of her.

Chloe, leaning forward, kissed her, nodding slowly to show her understanding. The left hand ventured back down towards Max panties. This time Chloe didn’t tease her and before Max could say ‘ _Wowser_ ’ …

_Max stop wiggling so much! Be still!_

… Chloe’s left hand reached its goal. God, Chloe knows how to achieve the perfect morning, thought Max. With the left hand set on its mission, the right hand released its grip and took a firm grip on Max’s chin, Chloe, clearly also tired of being a big tease, kissed her, tongues connecting. A fire inside of Max slowly built up with each passing second. Chloe broke the kiss to catch her breath and Max hugged her tightly and pulled Chloe back in for more, _thinking, whoever said revenge was sour?!_

Walking through the junkyard, Max closed in on the figure sitting on the ground, desperately digging in one particular spot. It was so familiar to Max, but she just couldn’t recall why. As Max came closer she saw an all too familiar back dressed in her favourite leather jacket, blue hair showing under the cap.

 _Hug her, I have to be there for her. HUG HER! BODY, MOVE!_ Her body did not respond to any of her commands.

Chloe noticed Max drifting away again. She stopped her movements, confusion and fear now glowing in the morning light. Suddenly, she noticed the sun was gone. She wondered, _did someone cover the windows without me noticing it?_

Chloe remained on top of Max, the burning desire still burning strong inside of her. Max noticed Chloe fidgeting to say something, but uncertain of how to express it. Chloe took a deep breath. _She’s probably going to ask what’s been going on with me this morning_ , thought Max. Max felt her eyes tearing up again and she tried to blink away the tears. Chloe finally gathered enough courage to say what was on her mind, and opened her mouth…

“NO, RACHEL, NO, THIS CAN’T BE REAL!” A high pitch scream cuts through the air. “WHO WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS?! This CAN’T be real!” Chloe continues as grief cut through the air. The once-desperate voice now gave way pure grief and loss over finding her best friend dead.

 _Max, are you okay? You don’t look so good!_ A soothing male voice spoke in the back of her head.

Max’s body walked over and put her hand on Chloe’s shoulder. She peered down into the hole only to find a dead face of a previously bright and beautiful Rachel staring back with empty sockets and a blue feather. Internally, Max screamed and cried; externally she let go of Chloe and slowly backed away from her and her dead friend, shaking her head in denial and woe.

“Max, answer me, are you okay? You just zoned out on me!” Chloe asked, clearly worried at how Max had been acting. The morning sun glowed through the window again. Without a word, Max grabbed Chloe around the neck and pulled her in for a tight hug.

Something sharp hit her neck and she felt a stinging sensation. The body moved its arm in response, only to find a syringe being pulled out and a gun appearing from behind.

“Max I’m losing you again!” Chloe cried in terror.

_Max, try and relax. It’ll all be over soon._

Chloe once again hovered over Max; all the sexual tension that had been in the air now obviously gone. Max closed her eyes and let her tears run freely. She suddenly felt a lump over her body, a weight bearing down; it was Chloe’s breast pressed against her frame. Chloe’s nose touched hers.

 _It’s just Chloe trying to comfort, gosh Chloe can be clingy sometimes_ , Max thought, while the pressure of Chloe’s weight increased.

Suddenly Max felt something dripping down on her face. What could cause her brave Chloe to cry? When she opened her eyes, two blue, lifeless eyes met her gaze. She was shocked by the glaring presence of a red hole in the middle of the blue-haired, punk forehead. Through the hole something red slowly oozed out. With all her power Max tried to scream, but to no avail.

“Chloe behind you, watch out!” Max body screamed, just to have Chloe turn around to see the assailant pointing a gun at her, a growling madness coming out of her, “YOU SCUM, YOU KILLED H…”

After a loud bang came a deafening silence. Chloe fell backwards, confusion, anger, and surprise all displaying on her face. The soft thump of her lifeless body hitting the ground was the loudest, most dreadful noise Max had ever heard. Staring at Chloe lying on the ground, she could only ask one thing, “My beautiful everything, what’s that new mark on your forehead?”

“Ah you’re finally awake”, Mr Jefferson sighed, “I’m sorry for tying you up, but you simply refused to be still. I also had to muffle you because you started to giggle wildly, and we can’t have that when we try to sneak you out of town. We need to be quiet here. Trust me, Max; we’re soon going to be right where we need to be.” Mr Jefferson disappeared from view, and the night sky is appeared quickly before everything turned black. The space Max lay inside started to vibrate with the noise of the engine starting. As a spray of uneven road and gravel hit the frame of the car, Max could feel herself moving towards an uncertain future.

After god knows how long, the car finally came to a stop. The trunk flew open and Jefferson stood there with a frown on his face,

“Max, please behave for this last walk, until we’ve reached our destination”, Mr Jefferson said tiredly.

Behind him was the skeleton of an old building; with the sedative still clogging Max’s consciousness, she couldn’t place where she recognized the structure from; yet knew she had seen its type of architecture before. Work, brain, WORK!

Jefferson bent over and lifted Max out of the trunk. As he did, Max took the opportunity to scans her immediate proximity. Hay sacks, wooden pillars, an old tractor… along with the wooden structure of the roof, she concluded that they had to be in some sort of a barn. But where? She couldn’t recall there ever having been a barn near Arcadia Bay. Hanging over Mr Jefferson’s shoulder she felt a sudden descent, and then the concrete steps came into view.

“It’s not far now Max, our destination is just at the end of the corridor, behind the large steel framed door over there,” Mr Jefferson said, while the fluorescence lamps activated automatically overhead.

 

Authors Note: 

Thanks to Lavallée Alec, Matthew, Sethmantle, Harpiua, Price, OuTsYdeR and Brooke Scott from lifeisstrangefans.com for proof reading and helping out with general boring editorial stuff. I want to give Brooke Scott an extra big shout out for her amazing work on helping out with the language and correcting the grammar.


	2. A peaceful breakfast.

With a soft bang from the large steel-framed door closing behind the two, Jefferson carried Max through the plastic drapery hanging from the roof. The room was stocked with supplies of food and water, just as if someone had prepared for the apocalypse. The last thing Max saw before passing out was a red portfolio on a glass table with her name on it.

“...I’m telling you, I’ll manage the deadline in time, but for now I’m busy teaching at Blackwell. Yeah I see, thank you for reminding me. “ Mr Jefferson put the phone in his pocket and looked over at Max. “Max… I can see you waking up.  Don’t worry about the phone call; it was just a publisher who wants to publish some of my work… but enough about that.  I do know you like my art. The key to my success is the pursuit of the best shot. Some may think I’ve crossed the line; but for an artist, there are no lines to be crossed. You just write new rules for the subsequent generation. And that, Maxine ‘Max’ Caulfield, is what brings you here…”

A high-pitched noise came from the pocket of Mr Jefferson.

“I’m sorry Max,; it seems I’ve run out of time for now. I’ll come back after school and ensure you stay safe and sound; we wouldn’t want you to come to any harm. After all, you are the key to the ultimate future!” With that, Mr Jefferson proceeded to give Max an injection, and soon thereafter, Max drifted off into sleep.

“Max! You’re finally back. What took you so long?” Chloe asked curiously. “You just decided to leave all of a sudden, when things were finally getting good!”

Happy to see Chloe again, Max rans through Chloe’s room and jumped into a hug! “I’ve missed you so Chloe!” Max exhaled excitedly. She pulled out from the hug to stare at Chloe.  _She’s still that beautiful blue haired punk rocker._ She brushed Chloe’s hair from her face and saw red liquid slowly creeping towards the floor with the help of gravity and a beating pulse. She quickly pulled all the hair away from Chloe’s forehead, only to find the red liquid gone with not even a trace of it ever having been there in the first place.

“What are you doing Max? What’s wrong?  You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”  A smug grin followed Chloe’s worried expression. “Perhaps you need some help with medication, Max Caulfield? If so, Doctor Price is in the house!”

“God Chloe, no! At least not yet, I just thought you were bleeding from your head and wanted to be sure it’s nothing,” Max exclaimed. She added under her breath, too quiet for Chloe to hear, “I thought I saw you die!”

 “Hmm? Did you say something, SuperMax?” Chloe turned around to put some music on.

She took her first step with her left foot, all dirty from mud. A stain after Chloe’s foot was left on the floor. She took another step; this time, her right foot left a stain of dirt behind as before, but its sole was clean.

“Chloe… did you run barefoot in the garden before I arrived?” Max asked suspiciously, noticing that there were no dirt marks on the floor in front of the door. In fact, the only dirt marks are where Chloe’s feet had just left the floor.

“Max, are you sure you’re feeling all right? How do you expect me to have time to run down to the backyard and back up in what… five or ten minutes? What did you even do after you left me waiting?” Chloe asked, now seriously worried about Max. “I figured you just went to the bathroom, but did you ingest anything you shouldn’t while you were gone?” Trying to save whatever was left of the mood before Max disappeared, Chloe avoided obvious questions of why would she have run barefoot in the garden, and what had made Max ask that?

With the latter of these in mind, Chloe turned to look at Max again.  As she search for anything that could explain her best friend’s odd behaviour, a sudden cry of fear escaping Max’s throat made her jump high into the air.

A flash suddenly lit the room, followed by the familiar sound of a camera shutter.  Max screamed.

Max had never screamed with such power and fear before in her whole life. In place of her beautiful girlfriend, a blonde-haired girl stared at Max her hazel-coloured eyes.  In contrast to her otherwise dishevelled appearance, a blue feather at her left ear bore not a speck of dust, and seemed to be glowing. Her clothes, infested by mould, were slowly ripped apart from the sudden pull of gravity. The previously dirt-stained skin of the girl started falling off; her hazel eyes, slowly lost their focus on Max and rolled out from their sockets as her muscles and skin slowly degraded. They slowly rolled onto the floor, only to be crushed by Rachel Amber’s limb falling apart with the help of gravity and decay. And then everything turned black.

Max awoke to the soft feeling of Rachel’s lap. She opened her eyes and stares up into two beautiful hazel-coloured eyes, a glowing blue feather and blonde hair framing Rachel’s beautiful face.

“Good morning, Max. I believe this is the first time we have actually had the pleasure of speaking to one another.” Rachel said, smiling, “I’m sure Chloe has told you about me as you’ve seen our picture together, and asked her about my missing girl posters. I just want to tell you… don’t make the same mistake I did with Chloe and walk out on Frank…”

A lock of blonde hair suddenly started falling from the back of Rachel’s head, quickly followed by another. Rachel tried to continue her speech but the only thing coming out of her mouth was dirt mixed with her teeth. Rachel’s body started to lean forward. Then it suddenly fell and hit the ground with a loud crash, spreading dust about and leaving behind something wet.

Yet again the room quickly lit up, followed by the sound of a picture being taken.

“Great, Max! You broke the snow globe I got from Dad before he passed away!” Chloe said crossly.  She lay on the bed, staring at nothing, clearly deep in her own thoughts.

Max took a step over Rachel’s corpse, or snow globe, or whatever it was, lying there on the floor. Nothing was as she wanted; everything seems to have been taken straight from a nightmare. Making sure she passed the scene of the broken snow globe, she took yet another step only to stumble upon something she hadn’t seen. She screamed as she fell, hitting her head on the floor.

“Max! I don’t even have to arrange your pose and you’re giving me all these beautiful pictures already! Oh how I wished I could’ve filmed you while I was away, who know what wonderful faces I missed while I had to be in school teaching your pestering friends.” Anger rose in Jefferson’s voice as he mentioned her classmates. “But don’t worry, Max! You must be starving; I didn’t have time to feed you when we first arrived, I simply didn’t want to wake you. And when you finally came to, I had to go to school, so I didn’t have time to feed you then, either! You see, Max, it’s of the utmost importance to me that you’re feeling well and are being taken care of. So for me and the whole art world’s sake, please cooperate with me.”

As Mr Jefferson walked through the plastic draperies, probably to prepare something to eat, Max took the opportunity to survey the room in which she was held captive. The first thing she noticed was all the high-tech camera equipment in the room. Then, she saw the walls, covered with pictures of girls in absurd poses. They seemed unaware of their situations; possibly drugged.

 _Is this what awaits me? Having my picture taken against my will?_ Max shuddered at that thought alone, dreading what awaited her.

Max continued to survey the room. The next thing she saw was a computer at a desk; from her position, it seemed to be turned off. Next to the computer were two big lockers, one opened and displaying its contents: red folders just like red portfolio she saw earlier. Most of them had something scribbled on their backs, but she was unable to read them. Closer to her was a sofa and a table, on which was a red portfolio; it lay wide open but, luckily, without content.

 _That has got to be my portfolio just waiting to be filled with disgusting pictures to fulfill Jefferson’s obsession with the “perfect” shot. I can’t imagine what he has in store for me!_ thought Max , until she saw a screen on her left, plugged into a high spec camera. On the screen she saw her own face, tormented by the horrors of her previous nightmares. Small beads of sweat began to develop on her furrowed forehead; a drip hung from her cheek, just about to fall. _I’m sure Jefferson isn’t pleased with this shot as I’m still muzzled in it._

In the other room, Jefferson stopped shuffling items around and started whistling. Soon, he emerged between the curtains, carrying a tray of food and looking pleased with himself.

“Max, I’ll remove your muzzle now.  Scream all you want; the only thing you’ll accomplish is getting me in a bad temper.  And trust me when I say this Max,” Jefferson spat out her name. “You don’t want to make me angry. If you understand, please nod.” With this, Max nodded; her stomach’s craving for food having prevailed over the anxiety in her brain. Anything containing nutrition was welcome to her, even fed by Jefferson’s hands.

Jefferson ripped off the duct tape covering her mouth with a swift, experienced pull. He started to feed Max, showing a surprising amount of affection.  It was as if he truly cared for her well-being and indeed for Max herself; as a person, not just as object to be photographed. Almost as if she were his very own offspring. Max shrugged at the thought. The food was the tastiest Max had ever known. She gulped it down without hesitation, whilst Jefferson regarded her with the look of a father feeding his newborn.

Suddenly, the food stopped coming. Jefferson put the tray on the table and provided some water to help her wash down the food. With each gulp, Jefferson’s smile slyly widened. Seeing this, Max started to panic. She violently turned her head from the bottle and spat out the contents of her mouth.  Sighing deeply, Jefferson calmly replaced the lid to the water bottle, the smile and pleasant aura of harmony previously surrounding him shattered. His face distorted in anger. 

“Max, I thought I told you… YOU DON’T WANT TO MAKE ME ANGRY!” He growled at her while walking to one of the cabinets in the back of the room. “And now you’ve accomplished just that! THIS ONE IS ENTIRELY ON YOU!”

Max could hear Jefferson look for something; then he stopped. Having found whatever tool he was searching for, he proceeded to close the cabinet and glared back at her. In one hand, Max saw something small and transparent coiled about his fingers like a snake.

 

Authors note: Thanks to Harpuia, Outsyder and Brooke for story tips, editing and language help.


	3. The first date

 

Jefferson turned around and approached Max. The closer he came the better view Max got of what he held in his hands. His face displayed a feral smile whilst holding onto a what looked like a small transparent tube with a funnel on one end.

 

During his walk back towards Max she rewound time. Jefferson took one step back, then another. He continued backwards and turned around towards the cabinet, the doors flied into his hands. The air warped all around the odd pair during the rewind. Her lack of strength became obvious as she only managed to make Jefferson turn back to the cabinet.  He then spun back around showing his feral smile while holding the transparent tube in his hands. All she achieved was a banging headache.

 

 _Think Max, think! Figure something out with the extra few seconds you can get from rewinding time._ She rewound once again, her headache only gaining strength and Jefferson once again turned towards the cabinet. _There has to be something I can use in here!_ She desperately thinks while she’s scanning her surroundings for something to use.

 

“That’s perfect Maxine!” Jefferson growled at her, while taking a photo with the mounted camera. Max rewound time again. There has to be something she could do! She starts to feel her nose-bleed creep down over her lips, and her headache now so powerful she can’t rewind anymore.

 

Max is crying and begging him to stop whatever he’s doing. However, with the drugged water starting to affect her, the only thing her body managed to produce is incoherent mumbles. With her mind screaming out of fear and pain, her body started to relax like she was going to sleep. Slowly, she starts to feel the panic creep into her.

 

“That’s perfect Maxine!” Jefferson growled at her, while taking a photo with the mounted camera. The latest photo showing up on the screen. Max eyes filled with terror and panic, desperately trying to make her body understand the danger she’s currently in.

 

Jefferson took a firm grip on Max chin, cleaned the blood from her nose, then forced her mouth open. With the drugs slowly relaxing her muscles she can neither fight nor aid him. She has to feel him do everything forcefully, with a shock of pain coming from her jaw due to being stretched beyond its limit. He then took the tube, pushed the end without the funnel down her throat, causing her gag reflex to kick in, although severely weakened due to the drugs. He ignored her empty attempts on throwing up as he kept on pushing the tube down her lax throat.

 

Her mind, already fueled by panic, was now screaming at the burst of pain and fear of suffocation. She could feel the tube getting pushed down her throat and the pain of it going down forcefully. The gag reflex trying to push back up the tube and the food she had just swallowed.  

 

Her brain was playing games with Max, causing her to think she’s about to suffocate on her own vomit with a tube down her throat, only the tube blocked whatever was trying to come up. The pain of her oesophagus expanding due to the vomit having nowhere else to go caused a burning feeling of her internals closing the edge to burst any minute. The acid in the substances only added to the pain she’s under, like her internals were slowly melting away alongside bursting.  Somehow the metallic acid flavour of bile slowly crept up into her mouth. The bile being pushed down the oesophagus alongside the tube giving Max a fake feel of being full. Suddenly she felt something hit against her teeth. It’s the other end of the tube, the funnel.

 

When the whole tube was in place Jefferson picked up the water bottle again and started to pour down whatever content that is left in the bottle down the funnel.

 

“Max, there is something you need to learn while you’re with me; You do as I say, you eat and drink what I give you unless you want this to happen more often. This time it worked out fine”, he said while he glanced down at the screen with a smile of satisfaction.

 

When the last of the content from the bottle in the was going down the tube in Max throat Jefferson walked over to the garbage bin and threw the plastic bottle away. He walked back and inspected Max, noting the drowsiness slowly creeping into her, he reached for the camera and positioned himself so he gets a clear picture of her face. Click. Click! CLICK! The horrifying sound of a camera shutter. Her face flashed by on the screen next to Jefferson, with each click showed a new picture. He put the camera back down. With indifference he pulled the tube out of Max, walked away behind the plastic draperies and came back without it.

 

Jefferson bent down and released the binds of Max right leg.  He carefully positioned it across her left leg. He positioned himself again, this time so he got the full view of Max. Click. Click! CLICK!

 

“Max, I’m sorry but this simply isn’t good enough… You’ll have to become more… flexible”, Jefferson said to Max. “This is probably going to hurt but I won’t do anything to permanently harm you. I don’t want to risk another Rachel Amber fiasco.”

 

With that he forcefully pushed her right leg closer to the body, ignoring the grunts of pain escaping Max’s mouth. He unleashed both of Max’s hands and put them on top of her right knee cap, positioned the torso facing the slightly to the right. Click. Click. CLICK! Each click sending a new picture of her posed body to her screen for full display. Proving how exposed and vulnerable Max was at the hands of Jefferson. No matter how much she hated to admit it, her life was in his hands, as was her well-being.

 

Jefferson took another shot, positioned himself differently, and took another shot. Each shot only adds fuel to the passion burning inside of him. A deep burning desire to find that perfect shot, to bring out whatever was inside of Max. And each picture of Max, only opened up the capabilities for Jefferson, his eternal pursuit of the ultimate photograph. His previous wildness slowly seeping back into the endless depth of darkness within him. The cool and chill Mr Jefferson who’s teaching the photography class at Blackwell Academy was slowly coming back.

 

“Max, you still need to enter a photograph for the Everyday hero contest, why haven’t you done so already? It’s something pure about your photographs, you get out the essence of whatever you photograph. I am sure you would be able to win if you just submitted something, but no you just had to skip out of this opportunity. ALWAYS TAKE THE SHOT MAX.” Jefferson exhales, getting uncharacteristically agitated with Max indecisiveness to submit a photo for the contest. “With my skill of photographing skill I’ll be able to draw out whatever it is in you that manages to catch the source of purity for your photographs.”

 

With that he kept taking photos from various positions, to ensure to get every possible inch of Max. With each shot a new photograph of Max shows up on the screen, her face displaying nothing but drowsiness, her eyes without focus. Her mouth displaying a small opening where occasional groans of pain escaped her.

 

With each picture of Max flashed by on the screen, a soft humming started to rise from Jefferson. His movements became more fluid, more experienced, the clicking started to fall into a rhythm. Like it was just another day on the job.

 

 _Move body, MOVE_ Max desperately tried to lift her right hand to rewind time. Nothing happened, her hand didn’t even twitch. Jefferson sounded a bit more excited than earlier.

 

“Max, that’s excellent, keep on fighting the substances running through your body!” he exclaims excited. Max struggling and fighting against her perpetrator only excites Jefferson in his perverted pursuit of the ultimate picture.  “The look in your eyes Max, it’s so fierce and full of fight! I’m surprised you’re showing this much resistance. Most girls I take here look utterly terrified and after a while they pester me to let them go in exchange for their silence. Like I haven’t thought about how to keep them quiet, who do they think I am? Some lowly kidnapper? I do what I must to take the perfect picture.”

 

He started to hum again, he put the camera back on the tripod. He released Max left leg and caressed her body with his right hand, followed her figure. He stopped his humming and lifted her up, placed her legs over the armrest and put her back in her seat. He strapped her back to fish lines which was strung to the roof to keep Jefferson’s victims to sit in whatever pose he desired them too.  He placed her left hand vertically on the right knee with the chin rested in the palm. He carefully bent her fingers and placed them just under Max’s lower lip.  He makes the nose align with her middle finger, strapped her hand and head to the fish lines to ensure her to keep the pose. He let the right hand hang free down her side. Observing the outcome of his modelling, he sighed and twisted her torso outwards to emphasise her figure and breast. He readjusted the fish lines accordingly to the new pose and went back to the camera.

 

He looked back at Max, sitting just how he wanted her too. He glanced down on his watch and then back at Max again. He took the camera and got back to humming, he once again fell into the rhythm of taking photographs with an ease that proves he’s done this several times over.

 

Max tried to move her body but all in vain. Her spine screamed from pain off the unnatural position of her torso, avoiding her drugged induced mind from drifting off to sleep.  She concentrated every ounce of power she could muster. However, all she managed was to set her right hand into an easy swing.  In the sphere outside of her consciousness she could hear Jefferson speak to her, but she couldn’t really understand the words he was saying. This time she tried to move her left hand. She managed to make it nudge a little until the fish lines constrained any further movements.

 

Jefferson noticed the resistance Max was starting to put up and took her down from her position unwillingly. He seated her back into the chair and put the straps back onto her arms and legs. He looked over the pictures he had taken today with his camera when he suddenly stopped pressing the button for the next picture. He glanced over at Max with an expression of genuine sorrow.

 

 _No, don’t you dare, your sick pervert! You have a photo of Chloe’s dead body?!_ Max cried, exhausted after the abuse and the effects of the drugs leaving Max system. A hand on top of her head grabbed her hair and forced her to face the screen. On display were Max lay on the ground, behind her in the dark you could just make out the body of a girl. The lightning too dark to make out her hair colour or the design on her clothes.  But it was clear that it was a girl due to the shape of her body. It was also clear that it was Chloe lying there, the photograph was from that night. The night when Jefferson shot Chloe and took Max away. She’s laying in front of the laundry machine where they found Rachel, and there’s a pile of dirt from where they found Rachel. Jefferson changed picture. Max cried uncontrollably at the next picture. It’s a picture of Chloe lying on top of Rachel Amber’s grave. If Rachel hadn’t started to rot away, you would’ve thought they were just resting on the ground after a day at the junkyard.

 

 _Chloe looks so peaceful where she lies, the two finally reunited, connected through the ground they died on. At least Chloe got to die next to Rachel, and not alone in some..._  Max thinks to herself but her thoughts get interrupted by a photo being taken.

 

Click! “That’s a nice look you have on your face Max!” Jefferson exclaimed. Click! While holding a second camera, obviously planned for this moment to occur. “I finally get to see your pure self! I knew I could pull it out of you Max! Although it upsets me it still comes down to this wretched punk of yours being the reason.” He looked down at Max with this last sentence, “I’m sorry that she’s gone now Max, I would have loved to have a photo session where both of you were my models.” 

 

 _Oh god she’s really dead… My Chloe, I promised you that we would be together. You’ll always be a part of me… At least you got the be reunited with Rachel,_ Max despaired.

 

“As much as it hurts me I do have to confess one thing Max. As you might know, all good things unfortunately have to come to an end sooner or later. And now is sadly later, so we’ll have to end our quality time together. Sadly, I still have to attend school and educate your pestering friends. But rejoice, I will be heading here the first thing I do when I’m finished at school. Depending on how I feel I might bring you a present as well. But now, I’m going to my apartment to get some sleep. I thank you for today and we’ll see one another tomorrow.” During his speech he ensured the buckles are tight and secure to avoid Max escaping from the chair and ultimately the room. He walked out through the draperies, opened the steel framed door and wished Max a good night before the door closed behind him.

 

With the picture of Chloe and Rachel still on display Max sinks back into her mind, too exhausted to try and escape her restraint. Too exhausted to fight the nightmares that’s about to come. The death of her best friend displays over and over in her mind.

 

_“Chloe behind you, watch out!” Max body screamed, just to have Chloe turn around to see the assailant pointing a gun at her, a growling madness coming out of her, “YOU SCUM, YOU KILLED H…” After a loud bang came a deafening silence. Chloe fell backwards, confusion, anger, and surprise all displaying on her face. With a glaring hole where her heart is supposed to be._

 

Authors notes: Thanks to Harpuia, Damien Harvey and Music Man Sebastian for discussing the awesome topic of trying to vomit with something blocking the exit with me! And I had a lot of fun acting out Jefferson’s poses to get myself a picture in my head of how it could/would look/feel like. Also I’d like to thank Kirk Caulfield, Harpuia, Outsyder.

 


	4. An Early Birthday.

She had lost count of how many times she felt the syringe penetrate her neck, how many times she had been forced to watch her best friend being shot to death. The risk of losing her voice after screaming, “Chloe behind you, watch out!” for the entire duration of her sleep, increased with each replay she had to endure. The deafening silence took over her again and everything turned to black. Something sharp stung her neck once more, and the nightmare began its replay once more.

However, this replay had details that none of the previous replays had. There was a thunder in the sky, flashes and dreadful roars followed it meticulously. Chloe once more got shot, but this time there followed no silence. The mental exhaustion Max’s nightmares had caused her made this anomaly utterly terrifying, she screamed for all she is worth, tried to wake herself up once more from this mental hell of hers. The silence that shortly followed her scream sent shivers down her spine. No more thunder and no more flashes, only a warm soft feeling of security overwhelmed her terrorized senses.

Jefferson kept a steady grip on Max till she calmed down from her terrors. He gently woke her up, gave her a concerned look and went through the draperies leaving her alone.

_Why is he showing me this kindness? Why is he doing any of this at all! What happened to the Mr Jefferson that was the deciding factor of my choice of school?_ His behaviour raised so many questions within Max she didn’t even know what to make out of it all. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder which shook her gently. She shrieked out in surprise at the sudden body contact between the two. 

“Max, it’s time for your breakfast, do you think you can eat something light?” Jefferson asked and to which Max nodded sluggishly. He took a spoon of Belgian waffle, and fed it to her.

_Oh the irony! I had Belgian waffles over at the Two Whales Diner just a couple of days ago…_ the realization of what this one thought meant made Max wake up instantly and be more aware of her company. Although she can’t do much when he decides to take action, but she sure wouldn’t let him have his way without a fight. 

Jefferson fed her the Belgian waffle, and put a straw in her mouth for her to drink some water to wash it all down it. To assure her that the water wasn’t containing anything inappropriate Jefferson drank some before he gave the water to Max. While she was enjoying her drug-free water he inspected the damages from the night. 

“Max I see you’ve been fighting quite a bit this night, you have a lot of scratched and bruises around your arms and legs. It’s such a waste for you to hurt yourself like this… I would’ve preferred you didn’t throw a tantrum in your sleep Max…” He glances up at her, his calm resolution seemed less calm when his eyes locked with Max. “Not to mention… You managed to damage MY chair… how are you planning to repay this to me?” He raised his voice with the last question, slightly losing his composure. 

He sighed and recollected his composure. “Max, we’re going to continue from where we stopped at yesterday.” He took up a syringe from the tray and pulled the arm of her jumper so her veins became exposed, with trained precision he inserted the syringe and emptied its contents. His sudden increase in speed took Max by surprise and her rewind was to slow. The syringe pulls out from her vein, the arm of her jumper goes back to cover her arms. She stopped her rewind as she realized she was too late. Jefferson once more uncovered her veins, stuck in the syringe into her vein, and inject yet another dose of whatever drug it contained. 

“What have you done! What is in that syringe?!” Max panicked, desperately fighting for the sake of fighting. Already knowing it’s too late to put up any struggle. It should soon be over for her anyhow. 

“Don’t you worry about that Max, all you need to do now is to relax.” Jefferson slowly explained to Max.

“Relax? You just injected the syringe twice!” Max exhale, fear, exhaustion and panic rendering Max unable to think straight. Not realising she had rewound time. “You’ll kill me!” She exclaims frightened, her fear of death surprised Max herself.

“Max, I have no intention to end this opportunity earlier than I have too. Twice? I injected you once Max. It must be the lack of sleep playing tricks on you, Max. You have to relax.” Jefferson assures her, he takes her hand in his and stares into her eyes trying to calm the storm which brewed inside her.

“No, no you don’t understand Mr Jefferson! You DID in fact inject me twice! You just don’t remember that!” She now completely lost her mind to the exhaustion and panic of not being able to explain her situation. She started to jerk in the chair, tried to force her hands free, to do anything. She just had to get out of her cursed throne!

“MAX, STOP IT!” Jefferson growled. He turned infuriated over the fact that Max was hurting herself again. He grabbed her chin, held her hard. He looked into her eyes, and smiled to himself. He saw something he had missed before. He backed up from her and took his camera and started to take photographs of Max fighting no one and nothing but herself.

“Stop taking photos JEFFERSON! YOU HAVE TO HELP ME!” Max desperately cried, a fear for her life started to seep into her for the first time since she became captive in this cursed chair.

Suddenly Max stopped jerking in her seat. She sank where she sat. Her body collapsed in the chair, her whole being suddenly relaxed. Her mind turned slack. Slowly turned to black.  Her heart slowly lost power, each beat feel into a pattern of deceleration. Until it slowly stopped all together.

“Max, this is perfect! The moment you succumb to the drugs is just marvellous! I’m so happy you’re this beautiful Max!” Jefferson happily says, he put the camera on the table and turned back to look at Max. This time he saw something was very wrong with her. Max, slouched in the chair, the head hung down, her chest no longer heaved for air. He walked over to one of the hospital trolleys that stood alongside the wall. He sighed and picked up an epinephrine injection and walked back to Max.  He unstrapped her limbs and puts her lying on the floor. He removed her jumper and t-shirt to expose Max upper body to the naked eye. He proceeded with CPR, after minute or so with no response from the dead girl he started to worry. When another minute passed he became desperate. He kept up with the CPR afraid he let this wonderful model slip away from his grasps. _God I promised I wouldn’t cause another Rachel Amber fiasco! This one just turned into one!_ He cried to himself, when suddenly Max’s chest started to move on its own accord. A slow, careful movement of her soft breasts, slowly rising towards the celling. And then they sank again, only to rise once more. He carefully injected the epinephrine injection into her thigh to help kick start the reboot of Maxine Caulfield.

He lifted up the weakened Max to place her in the chair again. While he lifted her up she got a perfect view off the right armrest of the chair, not a single scratch on the chair, even the binds looked factory new. However, she doesn’t have the power or will to remember why she bothered to notice the condition of the chair. Jefferson strapped her to the chair, he took her cheek in his palm and gently lifted her head.

“Do you want something to drink Max? Just say whatever you want and I’ll make the proper arrangement to please you.” He asked the weary Max.

“Just… please… Mr Jefferson… let me go… set me free please…” Max begged Jefferson.

“That’s not something to drink now is it Max? You need to deserve your freedom and right now I can’t say that you do. You’ve not worked near enough to even have the right to utter that kind of nonsense. It’s time for you to step down from your high horse.” Jefferson explained in a matter of fact tone. “I’ll bring a glass of water; will that suffice?”

“I’m… I’m sorry… “Max cried out. The drugs, the mental exhaustion and the exhaustion of going on and off various drugs started to break her down. “Can I… Can I please have the water?”

“Yes, you can have the water Max.” With that Jefferson stood up, observed his tormented model. He just stood there, absorbed Max, noted her wounded wrists, her bare chest fighting subtly for each breath. Her face furrowed in torment. Her eyes swollen by the all the tears she has felled, struggling to gain focus from exhaustion. Sweat rolling down her beautiful face. _This is the moment!_ Jefferson thought while he took the camera and started taking photographs. Quickly fell into a rhythm and forgot all about his promise of water.

“Please… The water… you promised…” Max croaked.

“Excellent Max, I love the look you currently have on your face! The water will have to wait for a moment!” Jefferson exclaimed happily. Taking pictures of the weak and vulnerable Max. Each passing moment harmed her, her throat hurt from all the screaming and the tube had most likely harmed her oesophagus in the process of entering and exiting her.

“Water… Please… You promised…” Max croaked once again. A salt flavour slowly spread throughout her mouth from tears slowly sipping through the springs of her mouth.

“MAX! WAIT FOR YOUR TURN!” Jefferson screams at her, impatient and annoyed at her begging. “YOU’LL GET YOUR WATER IN DUE TIME!” He exhales, “For now I have a more important task at hand” he tried to explain before he fell back into his rhythm of taking photographs.

Max continued her cry for water but at this point Jefferson kept ignoring her requests. After all, her displeasure only increased the chance of the one picture he was chasing and her tries to communicate only added more elements to the pictures as a whole.

After a good 10 minutes he finally put his camera down. “And now Max, is the time for your water” he explained. He stroked her cheek, wiping of tears with his thumb. He then turned around and went out to get the water.  Max shoulders slouched and her head hung even lower. Lost on the hope of Jefferson’s promise of water, which seemed to never get fulfilled.

Jefferson came back from the behind the draperies with a glass of water, it took longer than usual to just grab a glass of water.

“Max, I’m going to unstrap your left hand so that you can enjoy your water while I’m working on a reward for you. So you better promise me you won’t try anything stupid with the trust I’m placing on you.” Jefferson tenderly held Max chin up with his index finger and middle finger. As a response Max slowly nodded, desperation building up inside of her at the notion of water being within reach after all.

Jefferson unstrapped her left hand, placed the glass of water with a straw in it, in her left hand and went to sit in the sofa at the table. He started to clip something that looked like a page out of a newspaper. While she tasted the sweetest water in her life, it quickly turned into a nightmare. The sweet water, rejuvenated every corner of her mouth as it touched it, slid down her throat and turned into acid. The wounded oesophagus screaming after its abuse, like pouring alcohol on a wound to sterilise it.

Jefferson walked up and put a hand on Max, said something but Max didn’t listen. She rewound time and Jefferson once again was working on his so called reward for her. Her glass filled up with the rewind, which gave her more water to devour.

Jefferson walked up and put a hand on Max, this time she heard what he had to say, but she rewound time once more. She’s not satisfied yet. She kept this up for as long as she could just to satisfy her need for water.

Finally, she listened to what Jefferson had to say after he put his hand on her.  “Max, this is from today’s newspaper. I thought you would want to read what it says.” He took the water from her hand and replaces it with a paper clip.

 

_MISSING GIRL FOUND DEAD_

 

The shock of having it confirmed… Chloe was truly dead, there’s no denying it anymore. It’s not even plausible she MIGHT have survived being shot in some miraculous way. The shock overwhelms all her senses, the leftovers from the drug together with her exhaustion manages to send Max away, back to the home of her hauntings.

Two blue, tired eyes stared up at the celling. Every part of her body hurt. Her hands, her legs, even her upper body hurt. She struggled to move when she tried. Too tired to take fight, too tired to call for help. Her damaged mind silently wept her best friends fate, slipped her back into nothingness, a merciful rest accepting what is to be, another night of nothingness slowly transforming into your best friend’s dead body.

 

Authors note: I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Until I learned the famous Hollywood science was leaking into my fanfiction. Did you know if you give an adrenaline shot in the heart like they do in pulp fiction the person will slowly bleed to death because the heart has a hole in it? I want to thank Schublo and outsyder for the help on this chapter! And I love reading the reviews I’ve gotten! I’m also going on vacation and will come back home around the 3rd august so no more updates till august! Sorry for that. Also, please read my contest entry that I’ll post the 5th July over at Lifeisstrangefans! 


	5. Intrusion

A white sky, not a speck of blue anywhere, the clouds as white and pure like Her. Everyone has their flaws, but those flaws are what makes Her so perfect.

 _Oh how I miss her, if I only could see her one more time. I’d say all those things I never said_ , she thought tiredly.

Ah, there’s the sun, struggling to squeeze through the clouds. The result ended up being a beautiful faint glow in the sky. She tilted her head a tiny bit to the left. Another gap in the clouds where the sun shone through. Her head kept on falling towards the left. Unfocused eyes slowly tried to make sense of what they were seeing. The more she stared at the scenery which played out in front of her, the less sense it made. The horizon, for as far as she could see it stretch, was white. The cloud just merged perfectly with the horizon. However, where there was supposed to be land, is more white clouds.

She tried to sit up but to no avail. Her mind started to regain its consciousness again. The flashback of her best friend dying started to play again. She tried to lift her hands up to wipe the tears away, but they didn’t move an inch. She tried to remember more details of that night, the look of Her face, Her expression, but she couldn’t focus enough to summon what she was after. Any detail that might hint Her survival. Instead of achieving her goal, a headache started to grow inside of her. The pain slowly woke her up, sharpening her vision. Her whole body was hurting, the headache, her hands, her stomach. Her everything screamed of pain. She let out a scream in agony. A familiar voice could be heard in the back of her mind, screaming a name, but not the name which mattered right now. Mixed with the familiar voice was something unfamiliar, something she didn’t recognize, what was that sound? In midst of her confusion she felt something sharp penetrate her arm. Panic slowly rose as she vaguely remembered a syringe from that night, was it hers or who was it? Then, it all dispersed.

“Wake up Max!” Jefferson slapped her check, “you’ve slept long enough, Max. We have a lot to accomplish today! It’s a special day today!”

Max slowly woke up, all her pains numbed her, the shock of her best friend being dead still hung over her. The loss of everything she wanted to tell Chloe now stuck within her forever. Her throat still burned; her head still housed a blooming pain. She felt her swollen eyes sting when she tried to open them; How could she still have tears to fall after all her crying? How could the world treat her like this; why did it reward Mr Jefferson’s behaviour? She felt another slap across her face, it was hard enough to sting but not enough to bruise her.

She looked through her swollen eyes at a glowing Jefferson. He wore a smile which reached both his ears. When he noticed Max was awake he slowly backed away and showed her a picture of her, one she didn’t remember being taken. But in that very picture she looked lifeless and limp yet somehow, absent eyes looked out through the picture, unable to focus at anything. She was still awake in it.

“Look at this! Beautiful!” Jefferson exclaimed excitedly, “I guess your work here is done now Max, thank you very much for your patronage! Oh it was fun working with you Maxine Caulfield. I hope we get the chance to do this more often!” He looked at the picture of Max.

Happy with his work he started to take down the camera set up. When he was finished with the cameras he leaned toward Max, as if he were going in for a kiss, just when their foreheads were supposed to meet he stroked past her on the left side and reached for something behind her. He could hear Max loudly exhale. He leaned back and stood up. Towering over Max he looked down at her, who had a weird look on her tormented face. He turned his back to her and walked toward the cabinet. In his hand hung a rope neatly arranged. He opened the cabinet and put the rope away. He then proceeded to walk through the draperies and out of view from Max.

“Max, I presume you already know what’s going to happen, and I see no point in dragging this out any longer than necessary.” He called out from the draperies before emerging through them holding a syringe in his hands.

“I’ll see you in class, won’t I, Miss Caulfield?” while he whispered this he pulled up the right arm of her jumper. When he finished pronouncing Caulfield he looked down and injected the content of the syringe into her blood system.

He stood up and walked to the computer. He scrolled through the pictures which he had taken during the time with Max. He came to that picture and a smile slowly grew on his face. He looked pleased over to Max.

Max stared intently at Jefferson, refusing to give up. Making sure to remember everything there is to remember about him. A slow darkness crept over her, coolness seeped through her veins as the drug started to affect her. Her gaze started to falter. Her mind started to float away, to some distant place far away from her. It was so comfortable, all her pains, all her sorrow just floated away with it. Her faltering eyes started to see clearer than they ever had. It was so serene. So beautiful.

All her pain and sorrow came crashing down all at once. The sudden overwhelming wave of emotions caused Max to gasp out loud, her sore throat reminded her to be wary of using it for a while. She fought to keep her head held straight. As her muscles slowly stopped responding to her commands, caused her neck to slowly lose its posture and by each passing second her head dropped one centimetre closer to her breast.

Jefferson unstrapped the lifeless body of Max, first the legs, then the arms. He did it as a ceremony, honouring her hard, dedicated work for his purpose. When her arms could no longer hold Max in position she started to fall forwards. He carefully caught her lifeless body and lifted her up, put her on his shoulder and walked out to the car. He put her in the trunk and drove off.

During his drive towards his destination he kept calm, he listened to music, stopped at the gas station and bought a doughnut, he leaned back onto the car and began eating his doughnut. The shopkeeper then came out for a smoke during his break, saw Jefferson and approached him, offering a smoke as he did so.

“Sorry, not tonight, I’m heading somewhere where I can’t smell like cigarette so please smoke it elsewhere if you don’t mind,” Jefferson politely said to the shopkeeper who excused himself before he went back to the building and stopped in one of the corners to smoke his cigarette. Jefferson finished his doughnut and got back into the car and drove off towards his destination.

He killed the engine and stepped out of his vehicle. He took a deep breath and leaned back towards his car. He surveyed around the area, he spied the security guard’s car standing on its designated parking slot. _What was his name again? Mad… Madsen, Madson? Anyway, it’s not important._ No one else was up this early except for him and the guard, _excellent_ Jefferson thought.

He got back in his car and backed it up towards the stairs leading to the main entrance, he opened the trunk but left the engine running this time around. He exited his car, walked around it. He opened the trunk fully and stared down at the unconscious girl lying there, so sweet and pure. He couldn’t help to smile remembering the pictures he got working together with her. He moved Max’s bangs away from her face one last time, bent down and picked her up. He took one last look at her before he simply dropped her onto the staircase leading up to the main building. He closed the trunk and opened the door to his car. He looked at her lying on the stairs, silently whispered to himself, “Max, remember to enter your photo for the contest, I’ve seen what you can accomplish now.” Before he got back in the car and drove home to prepare today’s class.

David Madsen came out from the swimming hall, cheerfully whistling his favourite tune while locking the doors. _No unexpected visitors tonight, a calm and nice morning, I’ll finish today’s shift get home and see how the girl is doing today._ He turned his back to the doors and looked out over the deserted parking lot. Pleased with a good days work he called it quits for the night. He followed the pavement back to his office and left his equipment in their designated place. He sat down on his chair, he rested his head towards the wall, slowly enjoying his last cup of coffee before he headed back home to see his family.  He walked out of his office door, locked it up and walked past the signboard, read the new missing girl poster of Chloe’s friend Max Caulfield. Upset another girl from his school has disappeared, another friend of Chloe. Deep in thought he walked back towards his car. When he came to the stairs of the parking lot his blood froze, every single hair on his body rose. He quickly picked up his phone and called 911. He rushed towards Max, his military background kicking in as he started to check her pulse. It was there, but faint. He checked for a breath, it was also there. He removed his jacket and put it over Max. All he could do now was to wait for the emergency crew to come and help her.

The ambulance and police arrived to the scene. The police officers questioned Madsen about the discovery while the ambulance crew quickly stabilized Max and carried her away. The ambulance drove off with Max and Madsen’s absent eyes followed it over the horizon before he apologized to the officer trying to talk to him.

The ambulance arrived at the hospital; Max quickly got into an emergency room and was placed under observation and under-went various tests. During her examination they saw all her needle marks in her arms and neck, which caused the medical team to wait with examining Max any further until the blood test comes through. They had to wait and see what she had been injected with, and if they hopefully have an antidote for whatever was in her blood system. While they wait for the test results to come back they inform the police officers and with her family about the current situation. How she was unable to wake up.

A white sky, not a speck of blue anywhere, the clouds as white and pure like Chloe. Everyone has their flaws, but those flaws are what made Chloe so perfect.

 _Oh how I miss her, if I only could see her one more time. I’d say all those things I never said_ , she thought tiredly.

_But she’s dead._

Ah, there’s the sun. Struggling to squeeze through the clouds. The result ended up being a beautiful faint glow in the sky.

_Miss Caulfield, that’s no sun…_

She tilted her head a tiny bit to the left. Another gap in the clouds where the sun could shine through.

_Oh so there is two suns now?!_

Her head kept on falling towards the left. Unfocused eyes slowly tried to make sense of what they were seeing.

_I’ve been telling you Miss Caulfield…_

The more she stared at the scenery playing out in front of her, the less sense it made. The horizon, for as far as she could see it stretch, was white.

_But that is no Horizon._

The cloud just merged perfectly with the horizon. However, where there’s supposed to be land, is more white clouds.

She tried to sit up but to no avail. Her mind started to regain its consciousness again.

_Max, you’ve been awake but you just refuse to see..._

The flashback of her best friend dying started playing again.

_Chloe, no… Whatever she’s already dead isn’t she?_

She tried to lift her hands up to wipe the tears away, but they didn’t move an inch.

_You’ve mourned her enough, move on…_

She tried to remember more details of that night, the look of Chloe’s face, Chloe’s expression but she couldn’t focus enough to summon what she’s after, any detail that might hint Chloe’s survival.

_Max, remember that newspaper clip you got from Mr Jefferson? She. Is. Dead._

Instead of achieving her goal, a headache is started to grow inside of her, what does Mr Jefferson have to do with anything?

_Don’t fight me Max, we both know I’ll win in your current state._

The pain slowly woke her up, sharpened her vision. Her whole body was hurting, the headache, her hands, her throat. Her everything screamed of pain.

_See, I told you so._

She let out a scream in agony. Only to start coughing. A familiar voice could be heard in the back of her mind, screaming a name, but not the name which matters right now.

_You think Vanessa doesn’t matter? I’m sure what you wanted to hear was…_

Mixed with the familiar voice is someone unfamiliar, someone she doesn’t recognize, what is that sound?

_Maybe listen?_

In midst of her confusion she feels something sharp penetrate her arm. Panic slowly rises as she vaguely remembers a syringe from that night, was it hers or who was it?

 _Max, drop it it’s…_ Then, it all dispersed.

When Max woke up, she slowly moved her hand, feeling something losing its weak grip around it. There was a weird sensation on her bed, like something was there pushing down on it, where there shouldn’t be any weight. She moved her hand up towards her face, she rubbed her sore eyes and looked down at what she knew was an hallucination.

_It is a dream Max… It’s just wishful thinking, I know you loved her…. She’s FAKE._

“Chloe...? Is that you?” Max carefully asks as she brushes the blue hair from the resting punk. _Remember, she’s D. E. A. D!_ The punk slowly raised her head from the bed and looked at Max.

“Max… Holy shit, Max you’re awake!” Chloe cheerfully burst out, and then looked nervously at the door “I’m not supposed to be here, if someone finds me…!”

“You’re not real Chloe, you’re not real!” Max first whispered which quickly evolved into a scream of panic, defying her damaged throat threatened to break. “CHLOE YOU’RE DEAD, WHY DO YOU HAUNT ME STILL!? I MOURNED YOU, I WEPT FOR YOU, LEAVE ME ALONE!” Tears threatened to fall.

 _Miss Caulfield, you DO know she’s dead. Get her away from us!_ Tears started dripping from her eyes and she grabbed her head with both her hands, her body shook uncontrollably. _It’s to make us feel better Max, get her away from us!_

“GET OUT! NOW!” Max screams repeatedly until her voice broke and she could no longer speak, which didn’t stop her from trying.

 

Authors note: Big thanks to SteveoCPP for help with research about Jefferson’s photography. Mai for help with Chloe Price’s line at the end. Harpuia for the general detail nitpicking. Katie Kiley for helping me with the picture of Jefferson! TomorrowHeart for his help with grammatical and editorial stuff. I have to say I’m sorry this release took so long as it did.


	6. Craving

She moved towards the door, not much she could do, not much she had to do. She didn't even have to walk by herself anymore. In fact, she didn't even stand up, she wasn't allowed to do so during transportation between rooms. She looked at the doors passing by, peaked into the offices which had open doors. She noticed the paintings covering the walls. It was all the same, boring, paintings as always. The corridors were as white as always.

_Step up your game Max! Just tell them what they want to know and you'll be out of here! Maybe you even can go back? I know you'd love it!_

"Shut up!" Croaked Max.

Her wheelchair came to a slow stop, a friendly voice from behind her, probably for the thousands of times, told Max to ignore the voice inside her head, to ignore herself; the only thing that seems to know what is going on with her. That's nothing she could or was willing to do.

_That is too much credit, Dear._

The wheelchair started to rock again, the nurse had started to push her forward again, towards her destination, for the thousandth time. Max had stopped caring what happened to her and just did what was asked of her but one thing.

_The way you like it huh? Maybe not exactly being asked, but to follow other's directives…_

She reconsidered what she had been told the past few days. Chloe had survived, apparently she had been shot in the chest and had managed to call for help before passing out. _Or, she just died and they're only lying to you._ Jefferson is in custody for attempt of murder on Chloe, murder of Nathan Prescott, and for kidnapping and drugging countless girls including Max.

_But would you REALLY call that a kidnapping? I… Sorry, YOU enjoyed it too much._

_No I DID not! I don't even remember what happened!_ Max snarled back at herself. The wheelchair slowly crept towards the door, at the end of the corridor. Fluorescent lamps looming over her head. Slowly passed through corridor when a strange feeling of déjà vu seeped over Max. _Awh, are you longing back to Him again? How sweet!_

She looked down the white walls, the white doors, the never-ending hallway which moved passed her. Floated passed her. Her stare, stuck at the tempo of, door, wall, painting, wall, door, sent her off to a dream state. Reminiscing about… _you mean The ENJOYMENT you,_ she, had got to experience together with Jefferson, _Don't you mean Mark?_

_The way he moved his hand through your hair, how he treated you with care and love. When you felt sick, he was the one who took care of it._

"But, he shoved a tube down my throat!" Max countered.

_HE ENSURED your survival Max, you were in no condition to take in the food by yourself. Max. YOU ARE THE REASON, why you're stuck in this hellhole. You only have yourself to blame, you fought so hard, only to lose what it is you wanted to have. What you HAD!_

The sound of a distant horn broke the girls' laughter.

The green walls of the hospital, the green doors floated by in a steady motion, the laughter in the back of her head, whenever she tried to turn around, she was constrained. She turned her gaze forward, only to stare into the abyss, she screamed. The motion stopped, she launched herself forward, broke free from her chains of restriction. She felt the claws of abyss grasping her shirt. She broke free and ran. She ran till she collapsed. Somewhere, somehow a warm, gentle feeling was lifting her up. A voice in the back of her head warned her of trusting the stranger and his mischievous goal.

The voice sent chills down her spine, the terror crept from her heart, infected her stomach, ran up through her throat it emerged in a screech of panic when the all too familiar feeling of a sting in her neck. The cold metal penetrated her skin and sent in cold, calming liquid, and the darkness crept over her until she fell back into to the abyss.

The train screamed, when it rushed past the blue haired girl. The relief clear on her face where she avoided sure death.

She looks back at me, over-joyed by my feat of rescuing her using my powers. I look down at my own hands in disbelief when I start moving towards the source of her calling me, happy, excited, alive.

The further I go, the more distant it gets. I stop to listen after her voice, I try to lift my eyes from my hands but I can't, they're so… _bound_ … enchanting… _beautiful_. With the power in my grasp, I control TIME itself. I can do anything _he_ wants me too.

I stare again, at the endless light above my head. The chains holding me down disappearing.

Lying in her bed, Max fooled herself to feel safe. She glanced at the beanie covered head resting on the side of her medical bed. The head turned around and glared back at Max, emotionless. Blue hair covered the eyes, the mouth gasped for air, tried to speak but all it ever accomplished was spitting out blood over Max. The momentum from the twitching jaw rolled the head to the side, revealing empty eye sockets hidden beneath blue hair

Max screamed out in terror, and through the door entered a blonde, stylish girl with a blue feather in her ear. She looked at Max in confusion, then at the rolling head. Walking to Max bed, ignoring every inquiry Max had made, she picked the head up and whispered to it.

"So, this is where you had rolled off too… Better get back to the rest of your body."

As the blonde girl began to walk out, the doors opened. Another nurse, this one unknown, walked in, passing right through the girl cradling the grasping head. Upon collision, the blonde girl dispersed.

The nurse loomed over Max, checked her condition, left the room only to return together with the psychiatrist, both wore a worried look on their face. Looming behind their shoulders was a smiling, blue haired face, making funny grimaces that distracted Max from what the nurse and psychiatrist had to say. Max smiled softly to herself and heard nothing of what the pair said. _Bet you're longing back to his control._ Snapping back from reality, Max bolted up in her bed, asked the pair to be quiet. They both looked at each other, then back at Max and proceeded to leave. Through the crack of the door she could spy a blue haired girl in a medical gown who sneaking a peak before being ushered away.

She stepped out of her bed, slowly ventured to the window. She stared out on the desolate parking lot, the streetlights glowed over it. In her reflection, _she_ saw her dead blue eyed friend, who had been haunting her since her arrival to the hospital. She put her right hand against the window. Chloe responded with copying Max by pressing her right hand against Max's. Max closed her eyes, imagined the warmth of _his_ hands against her. When Max opened her eyes, she's met with two, _beautiful_ , terrifying, brown eyes, observing her expression closely. The beard covered his face, perfectly trimmed as always, and his neat glasses rested softly on his nose. His _beautiful_ face. Jefferson imitated Max as she took a step backwards in disbelief. She then took one forward to observe him closer. How she had missed something as simple as just laying her eyes upon Jefferson.

_This… hunk… why did you betray him?!_

"But I didn't", Max said to no one. "I had to save myself, he …" _loved you_ "hurt me!"

The reflection of Jefferson dispersed as a soft glow entered the room from the door. She quickly turned around to meet her visitor, only to stare at a closed door with no one there. She hurried to the door and opened it, only to see her psychiatrist doing his last check-up for the night. Seeing him surprised Max and she closed the door before getting noticed. Unsure what just happened and how to explain it to him, she opened the door slowly again, only to have the door fly open and an unknown stranger forced her way in. Max eyed the assailant suspiciously and was greeted by a blue haired girl in a hospital gown. Lost for words Max tried to whisper the name of the person she had longed for the most;

"Chlo…" _Jeffer_... "oe?" _Son?!_

Author's Note:

Sorry that this chapter took so long to write, real life hit me hard as a truck, but I hope this finishes my saga. Big thanks to TommorowHeart and Harpuia for helping me with this chapter. A proper thanks for anyone who read through all this and I hope you enjoyed it!


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